When "my life was filled with rain," this song cheered me up with its boundless optimism and groovy bass line. Thank you, Mr. Hebb, for bringing sunshine into my life.posted by ElectricBlue at 7:58 PM on August 4, 2010 [1 favorite]

Wow, I don't think I've heard this song in 25+ years. When I was a little kid Bobby Hebb's version was among my small collection of 45 records, for some reason... maybe a cast-off from my older brother or my parents. It's a nice tune, and it takes me right back.

"Sunny" was of the early pop tunes of that era that quickly became a staple among jazz musicians. We all played it, since you could do a lot with it.
R.I.P, Bobby.posted by Seekerofsplendor at 10:06 AM on August 5, 2010

Also one of my favourite pop songs; my children know these lyrics by heart.posted by ouke at 5:14 PM on August 5, 2010

In the mid 1960's Bobby Hebb lived in a fancy Park Avenue building on the Upper East Side. which was amazing considering: Born to a mother and father who were blind musicians, Robert Von Hebb spent his childhood singing, tap dancing and playing the spoons on Nashville streets as a member of his dad’s washboard band...

A painfully inspiring backstory to the song: The story of “Sunny” was rooted in sadness, and the song’s subject was the transcendence of sadness. On Nov. 23, 1963 — the day after John F. Kennedy’s assassination — Mr. Hebb’s brother and musical partner, Harold Hebb, was knifed to death outside Jefferson Street’s Club Baron. Mr. Hebb was living in New York, looking for solace in a bottle of Jack Daniel’s whiskey, when he began writing “Sunny.” The composition diverted his attention from the drinking, and within about 45 minutes he was sober, and sitting on a gold mine.

“I needed to pick myself up,” Mr. Hebb told The Tennessean, and “Sunny” became that pick-me-up. It was, and is, an ode to disposition and a melodic plea for peace.

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